Manufacture of inlaid linoleum



June 27, 1933. J A PHELAN 1 915371 MANUFACTURE OF INLAID LINOLEUM Filed J,,1,1ne 9. 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR m. RPM,

June 27, 1933. J E A I 1,915,471

MANUFACTURE OF INLAID LINOLEUM Filed June 9, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 3 I k H I l m, I S

Fatented June 27, 1933 tilZlTEfi stares earner caries JGHN A. PEELAN, OF LANUfiSTER, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO ARMSTRONG- CORK COMPANY, OF LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA, A GORPGRATL'ON OF PENNSYLVANIA INLAID LIN OLEUM Application filed June 9, 1930. Serial No. 459,869.

This invention relates to the manufacture of inlaid linoleum and provides a method of manufacture which is particularly suitable for use in connection with machines of the well-known rotary type. The invention will be herein described particularly with reference to its use in connection with a rotary machine, although in certain of its aspects it has numerous other applications.

lhe rotary machine consists essentially of a large drum about which travels the backing material impregnated with a mix coat of linoleum material. lVebs of linoleum mix are formed by calenders above the level of the drum and these webs are fed to die rolls which cut the linoleum into pattern elements and scrap. Strippers actuated by pin rolls within the die rolls eject the scrap material and lay the pattern elements on the backing.

" There is a die roll for each color in the pattern and the usual practice is to employ two, three or four such rolls, so as to cover theentire surface of the backing with pattern elements.

Machines of this type are very expensive and require a relatively large crew for operation. It is, therefore, extremely important that shut downs and idle time be avoided. Unfortunately the machine is of such character that only a relatively limited variety of patterns can be obtained. A further limitation on the character of the product is imposedby reason of'the fact that the grain of the several webs of linoleum mix all runs longitudinally of the goods. In tile patterns wherein the several blocks are grained to simulate marblethe grain of each block is longitudinally of the goodsand this is recognized as inferior in appearance to patterns wherein. some of the blocks have their grain running'crosswise. it has been proposed, but so 7 far as I am aware, it has never been the commercial practice to form the strippers of the die rolls in such fashion that some of them are rotated through an angle so as to turn the died out pattern elements before laying them on the backing. This idea is not applicable to the rotary machines in commercial use because of space limitations and, therefore, the commercial practice in the manufacture of enders so as to minimize this defect.

linoleum where the grain in different pattern elements runs in different direct-ions has been to resort to the old practice of hand laying. 'lhe hand laying process is slow and expensive.

lprovide for cutting a web of linoleum m x, laying cut out pieces on a backing and picking olf the desired pieces and relaying them on the backing in a different orientation. If desired, several webs of linoleum mix may be employed and a pattern formed by operating the rotary machine in the usual fashion. However, the pattern will be modified by picking ofi certain of the elements which have been laid on the backing and relaying them by hand so as to change their orientation. For certain types of patterns it may be desirable to cut a single web into pieces and lay these pieces on the backing, certain of them being picked ofl and relaid by hand. Highly desirable effects may thus be obtained and it is possible to use mixes which are ordinarily not considered feasible With a rotary machine. It has been stated above that in ordinary rotary machine patterns the grain always runs longitudinally of the goods. It has, therefore, been the practice to avoid'bold marbles or variations in the marble or other textures imparted by the cal- By the present process boldly textured marbles or other patterns may be employed and in fact their use is desirable in obtaining striking and ornamental effects.

here a single web of linoleum mix is employed, there is no scrap loss, the entire web being cut into pieces and laid on the backing. This represents a marked saving over ordinary practice.

In practice, the pattern elements at the sides of the material are made wider then is required in the finished material so as to leave an excess for trimming. This side border is necessary for various reasons. During the calendering operation wherein the pattern elements are consolidated with one another and with the backing there is a tendency for the blanket of the calender to round off the edges of the material. There is also some stretching of the material and provision must be made for trimming the goods to exact width. Obviously if it is desired to pick off some of the pattern elements along the sides of the material and relay them in a different orientation, the extra width normally provided on the outside pattern elements cannot be given. I, therefore, depart from the customary practice and make at least some of the pattern elements at the side, of the substantially desired final dimensions. -I prefer to do this only with those pattern elements which are to be relaid by hand and extend the other pattern elements onto the waste portion of the goods. By this practice the sidewise extending pieces serve as an index of the pieces to be picked oif and relaid. This is particu larly desirable in goods made from a single web of linoleum mix. A great advantage of my method is that it can be carried out at relatively high speed but where the material is moving at such speed diii'iculty-is sometimes encountered by the workmen in lo'cat ing the particular pieces which are to be picked off. The indexing of the margin is very helpful in this regard. T o,

In ordinary practice the pattern elements are laid firmly on the backing so as to adhere relatively stronglythereto. According to my method I prefer that the pieces be laidwith relatively light pressure so that they may be readily picked ofli'. It will be understood that themix coat which is applied to the backing isrelatively tacky and the uncured pattern elements will adhere thereto sutiiciently to insure their staying in place until the calender is reached.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating a present preferred embodiment of the invention 7 Figure 1 is adiagrammatic View illustrating a rotary machine suitable for the prac tice of my invention.

Figure Elisa view of a pieceof linoleum madefrom asingle web showing the mate rial as it issues from the rotary machine and successive steps in the picking off and relayin of certainof thepattern-elements; and

figure 3 is a similar view showing a three color pattern.

o The machine shown in Figure 1 comprises a drumQ having die rolls 3 associated there with. A web a of backing material is sup plied to the machine and travels around the drum .2 so as to receive pattern elements which are laid on by the die rolls 3. A calender 5 is provided for each die roll 3 and the web TV of linoleum mix supplied from the calender is carried by belt 6 to the die roll 3. The web travels between the die roll and a platen roll 7 and knives on the surface of the die roll'cut the web into pieces. If a single web of linoleum mix is employed all of the web will be deposited on the backing 4. If in accordance with the usual practice two or more colors are employed the scrap from each web will be ejected by strippers which are actuated by pin roll 8 inside the die roll. The scrap is received in trough 9 and carried away. Pin rolls 1O inside the die rolls 3 actuate strippers to lay on the backing those pieces-Jot the linoleum mix which it is desired to use in the finished product.

The backing with the pattern elements thereon travels over an inspection table 11 to a roll calender 12 where the pattern elements are consolidated with the backing and one another. The pattern elements which it is desired to pick off and relay are lifted off the backing as the material passes over the inspection table 11 by workmen standing on each side of the table.

Figure 2 shows a conventional tile pattern made up of square blocks of a marbled mix. In the upper portion of the View the material is shown as it issues from the rotary machine. It presents the appearance of a continuous web of marbled material with no breaks therein except for the lines of severance between pieces, which lines are indicated at 14. The backing 4 is shown in the right hand side of the view and the marginal portion 15 of the linoleum, which margin must be trimmed off, is also illustrated. It will be noted that the row of blocks at the right hand side of the material is not uniform, alternate blocks being square and the blocks between them being rectangular and extending beyond the margins 16 of the square blocks. It is desired to turn alternate blocks in each row through an angle of 90 and relay them on the backing. By making the alternate blocks rectangular the workmen are provided with an index which shows them just which blocks are to be turned.

I have found in practice that it is desirable to use one or more workmen for each row of blocks or other pattern elements in a design. In Figure 2 I have shown a tile pattern. In this pattern half of the blocks must be picked off and relaid by hand. The number of workmen employed will depend on the speed at which the operation is performed. In Figure 2 I have indicated an operation on which two men are employed on each longitudinal row of blocks. A man standing at the'stationA will pick off, turn and-relay every fourth block in the outermost row. Each block which has been turned by this workman is indicated by an a. A workman standing at B will pick up and relay the square blocks intermediate the blocks a. These blocksare indicated at b. 'Workmen at stations C and D correspondingly relay the blocks in the second course from the right of the view and workmen at stations E and F, and H, J and K correspondingly turn the blocks in the 3rd, 4th and 5th courses. The bottom portion of Figure 2 shows the material after the blocks have been turned and the material is ready for calendering.

Figure 3 shows a multi-colored pattern employing several webs of linoleum mix. In the upper portion of the view the material is shown as it issues from the machine and at the bottom portion it is shown after the desired blocks have been reoriented.

I have illustrated and described a present preferred embodiment of the invention and have shown two patterns in illustration thereof. It may be understood, however, that this is by way of example only and that the invention may be otherwise embodied or practiced within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In the method of making inlaid linoleum, the steps consistin in forming a patterned web of linoleum mix, cutting the same into pieces, laying such pieces on a backing, picking ofi desired pieces, and relaying them on the backing in a different orientation.

2-. In the method of making inlaid linoleum, the steps consisting in forming a patterned web of linoleum mix, cutting the same into pieces, laying such pieces on a backing, picking oil desired pieces, and relaying them on the backing in a different orientation while leaving other pieces undisturbed.

3. In the method of making inlaid linoleum, the steps consisting in forming a patterned web of linoleum mix, automatically cutting the same into pieces, laying such pieces on a backing, manually picking off desired pieces and relaying them on the backing in a different orientation.

4. In the method of making inlaid linoleum, the steps consisting in forming a patterned web of linoleum mix, cutting the same into pieces, laying such pieces on a backing, picking off desired pieces, and relaying them on the backing in a different orientation, the pieces which are picked off lying at different intervals along the goods.

5. In the method of making inlaid linoleum, the steps consisting in forming a patterned web of linoleum mix, cutting the same into pieces, laying such pieces on a backing, picking off desired pieces, relaying them on the backing in a-difi'erent orientation, and consolidating the pieces on the backing.

6. In the method of making inlaid lino- I leum in a rotary machine, effective for cutting a web of linoleum mix into pieces, laying such pieces on a backing, the steps conisting in supplying a patterned web of linoleum mix to the machine, picking ofl de sired pieces laid on the backing by the machine and relaying them on the backing in a different orientation.

7. In the method of making inlaid linoleum, the steps consisting in forming a patterned web of linoleum mix, cutting the same into pieces and laying them on a backing, certain of such pieces being of such shape that they can be lald in ClliIQIQIlt orlentation within the area defined by the adjacent pieces and other of said pieces being of another size or shape, picking off desired ones of the first mentioned pieces and utilizing the last mentioned pieces asan index of the pieces to be picked off and relaying such picked off pieces in a different orientation.

8. In the method of making inlaid linoleum, the steps consisting informing a patterned web of linoleum mix, cutting the same into pieces and laying them on a backing, certain of such pieces laying along the edge of the goods, being of such shape that they may be laid in different orientation within the area defined by the adjacent pieces and other of said pieces along the edge projecting beyond the first mentioned pieces, picking off at least some of the first mentioned pieces and utilizing the last mentioned pieces as an index of the pieces to be picked off and relaying such picked off pieces on the backing in a diflerent orientation.

9. In the method of making inlaid linoleum, the steps consisting in forming a pat tern-ed web of linoleum mix, cutting the same into pieces, laying such pieces lightly on a backing so that they may be readily picked off, picking off desired pieces and relaying them on the backing in a different orientation.

10. In the method of making inlaid linoleum in a rotary machine, having a die roll effectivefor cutting a web of linoleum mix into pieces and having strippers effective for laying such pieces on a backing, the steps consisting in feeding a patterned web of linoleum mix to the die roll, actuating the strippers in such fashion as to lay out out pieces lightly on the backing material, picking ofl desired pieces and relaying them on the backing in a different orientation.

11. In the method of making inlaid linoleum in a rotary machine, effective for cutting a web of linoleum mix into pieces and laying such pieces on a backing, the steps consisting in supplying a web of linoleum mix to the machine, cutting the same in the machine, laying the entire web on the backing and picking off the desired pieces and relaying them on the backing in a different orientation.

12. In the method of making inlaid linoleum, the steps consisting in forming a patterned web of linoleum mix, the web being of an area. equal to the desired area of the finished goods with an excess at the sides for trimming, cutting the same into pieces, laying such pieces together with the excess material at the sides of the web on a backing, the several pieces occupying the same relative position on the backing as they occupied in the uncut web, picking off desired pieces and relaying them in a different orientation.

13. In the method of making inlaid linoleum in a rotary machine effective for cuttin a web of linoleum mix into pieces and laying such pieces on a backing, the steps consisting in supplying a patterned Web of linoleum mixto the machine, cutting the same into pieces thereby and laying them on the backing with the lines of the pattern run-, ning longitudinally of the backing, picking ofi' desired pieces laid on the backing by the machine and relaying them on the backing in a different orientation so that the pattern lines of such pieces extend at an angle to the longitudinal dimension of the backing.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN A. PHELAN. 

